Broadway Boxing in NYC TONIGHT

By Michael Woods

Maybe no person puts in more hours before many a boxing show than the matchmaker.

The Tramplers, Goodmans, Beninatis, Gomez,' Diaz,' Mizzones, Katz' and Botjers, they earn their checks, for certain, dealing with making scraps, dealing with managers, commissions, medicals, a thousand and one little things that add up to the minor miracle that is a boxing show occurring.

Felipe Gomez does the deed for Dibella Entertainment. You will see the result of his near sleepless nights tonight, at BB King's in Manhattan. I asked Gomez, himself a promoter, what is his pick for the fight he is himself most curious about.

“Louis Cruz (11-0) versus Michal Chudecki (10-1-1; junior welters) is a very interesting fight, but Lenin Castillo (12-0-1) versus Marcelo Tavares (8-0; light heavies) is the sleeper!” Gomez said. “Lenin is coming to fight, and I saw some clips on Marcelo Tavares and he seems to be a tough opponent that comes straight forward to fight. He will give Lenin a good fight, but I believe Lenin will stop him mid or late rounds…unless one of those lucky punch lands on Lenin!”

And talk to me about this Cruz fight…

“Great step up fight for Cruz. He needs a fight like this not only because his opponent has with a winning record, but it's going to be competitive, to start preparing him for the next level, ShoBox and undercard to a bigger TV network, etcetera.”

The matchmaker can't chill to everyone gloves up and all of them fight. So Gomez can relax tonight, around 11 pm. Not before then… Yeah, those guys earn their keep.